Dog Training

Dog obedience training techniques rely heavily on food, which is a huge motivator for any dog. This is an example of positive food motivation. But when food becomes a catalyst for aggression in your dog, you’ve got a food guarding situation, which can escalate to become dangerous for you, and the other dogs in your household.

As with most dog behaviors, food guarding is rooted in survival. You might feed your dog every day at five o’clock, but his ancestors in the wild often went for days at a time without food. When a carcass was finally carried back to the pack, there was no polite buffet line. There was likely a scuffle, even a power struggle, over who would eat first, and the most.

The submissive dog might develop a food guarding habit, or eat her food in large gulps, to protect her meal from more dominant dogs, who feel that they have the right to horn in on lesser citizens’ food. Conversely, dominant dogs might scarf food or develop a food guarding issue in response to the scroungers who circle, hoping to usurp the right to eat.

Food guarding might be perfectly natural, but, as with many dog behaviors that we feel the need to change with dog training, it’s not ideal for modern day living. Prevention of this behavior, when your dog is young, with dog obedience training techniques, is the best course of action. Take these steps to prevent this potentially dangerous habit from developing:

Put only a portion of your puppy’s meal into her bowl. When she’s finished eating that, pick up the bowl, put more food into it, and then replace it for her to finish. You can divide the meal into as many segments as you’d like.

Pet your puppy while he eats.

Hold the bowl while he eats.

Ask your puppy to sit. Reward her. Then place her bowl on the floor. Partway through her meal, interrupt her eating to ask her to sit again. Reward her with a treat that’s much better than what’s in the bowl; a chunk of steak or hot dog is perfect.

While he’s eating, command your puppy to stop eating and to sit. Put a piece of meat into his dry food and dig your fingers into the food, stirring it around. Now, allow him to finish.

Train your puppy by picking up his bowl while he’s eating, adding some tasty meaty treat to it, and then replacing it for him to finish.

Invite other members of the family, and visitors, to perform these exercises.

All of these dog training tips train your dog to understand that you have no interest in stealing his food, that mealtime can be relaxing and fun, and that it can include bonuses if he’s calm and compliant. Employ clicker training elements with these exercises for even quicker success.

Don’t attempt these dog training techniques if your dog already displays signs of food guarding: growling, snarling, dog barking, raised hackles, glazed eyes, or greedy and speedy eating.

The ultimate message to your dog is this: food guarding is no longer necessary in this new, safer world. Sending this message during puppy training is the best way to make this belief part of your dog’s life.

Your dog’s survival is in your hands, now. He can feel confident in placing his trust in you, for dog training success in, and out of, the food bowl.

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